What's next for the EPA? Here's what Reagan did
I have no illusion the trump is able to learn anything.
What’s next for the EPA? Here’s what Reagan did
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/21/what-next-for-the-epa-heres-what-reagan-did_partner/
History repeats itself in the White House — and Trump should learn from Reagan’s environmental stance
Seema Kakade • Robert Percival
July 21, 2018 4:59pm (UTC)
.......Pruitt relished announcing regulatory rollbacks with great fanfare, including repealing the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan to control greenhouse gas emissions. But like it or not, the EPA has a legal obligation to control greenhouse gases, and its new administrator will have to decide how to do so.
A growing number of Republicans accept climate science and endorse a carbon tax, long favored by economists, though such a policy would require new legislation. And many Republicans understand the need to diversify our energy supply. The new administrator should devote more effort to these challenges and less time to staging flashy press events with fossil fuel interests.
With Pruitt’s departure, President Trump has an opportunity for the kind of environmental reset that President Reagan so skillfully executed. Now that he has abandoned calls to abolish the agency, we believe Trump needs to appoint an agency head who will make it work more effectively to improve all Americans’ lives and health. After all, healthier individuals make for a healthier workforce.
The ConversationRather than demonizing the EPA, we think the next administrator can succeed by directing EPA staff experts to connect with citizens in every part of the country and improve environmental protections while promoting a healthy economy and a prosperous future. The United States cannot be a great nation without a clean environment.
Seema Kakade, Assistant Professor of Law and Director, Environmental Law Clinic, University of Maryland and Robert Percival, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Maryland
